


{brace}

by Bushwah



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Ambiguous Relationships, Other, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 17:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17084234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bushwah/pseuds/Bushwah
Summary: "Pressed together we interlock; / the vise bears down, and back to back / we flatten hands against each other, practical."





	{brace}

Pressed together we interlock;  
the vise bears down, and back to back  
we flatten hands against each other, practical.

Did you know?  
Fingers laced together tend to break.  
Under pressure such as this, of course;  
and what else is there?

Of course, the pressure lifts, in time.  
The vice—tears open, wounded, with a _crack_ ;  
and still we stand there, moulded back to back.  
Tears run down our faces: gratitude.

There is nothing to be afraid of, yet we fear.  
We fear a lack of fear, expecting ambush  
(terror, threat, catastrophe).  
Even having cast off our chains  
we still jump at their shadows.

Healing does not run by human hours.  
Hands numb with survival start to waken:  
to shift from where they fit against each other  
like puzzle-pieces realizing their color  
is not enough; and edge fits not to edge.

But the same hands  
that stayed inert, impassive under threat  
(not for their own sake but for each other’s)—  
those hands now refuse to curl, and grasp;  
to learn to keep each other company.


End file.
